Profond Vorsorgeeinrichtung, a Swiss investor which proposed a rights issue as an alternative to UBS's plan to sell a 9% stake to a sovereign wealth fund, has called for the Swiss bank to choose an entrepreneur to take over as its long-term chairman following the departure of Marcel Ospel.

Peter Schnyde, manager of Profond's French business, said he expected Peter Kurer, the bank's general counsel who has been nominated for election to the board of UBS with the intention of being proposed as chairman, would at most be only a short-term replacement.

He said: "A lawyer may be right for the moment, but I think someone else will come in as a permanent guy. We need a guy with entrepreneurial spirit and experience."

He suggested Christophe Blocher, former owner of Swiss nylon manufacturer EMS Chemie and a former government minister, might do the job well. Schnyde said he would be happy for a non-Swiss national to take over the job. "Why not? Credit Suisse has an American," he said.

Profond, which owns less than 1% of UBS and had asked it to pursue a Sfr10bn (€6bn) rights issue, will support the Sfr15bn rights issue UBS proposed yesterday, Schnyde said. Profond, which has about Sfr2.5bn (€1.5bn) in assets under management, has increased its shareholding in the bank.

Schnyde said: "We have confidence in UBS and it is good news Ospel is out, the younger managers are good. Now we have to give them to get UBS back to health, at least this year. We should let them get on with it."

He said he could not imagine the Swiss authorities allowing UBS to collapse: "The Swiss banking system would not allow that to happen. A big part of the Swiss economy depends on banks - employment, taxes - and UBS is number one."